Close to You
by Merry Beaker Fractale
Summary: "Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near? Just like me they long to be close to you. Why do stars fall down from the sky every time you walk by? Just like me they long to be close to you?" A story of how Orihime falls in love with Ichigo. Based on the song Close to you by Carpenters. AU


**Hello! I come here with my first ever story in English! Tbh I'm quite nervous, not only is this my first story in english (all of the other ones are in spanish) but this is also my first not rated M fic! So weird for me to write fluffy stuff like this, usually stick to lemon action pack stuff but here I am. This story came to me after watching the Simpsons (my obsession) and loving the song Close to You, I been listening to it non stop for almost a week and I felt like i needed to write it on a fic just wasn't sure for who (thought about Ed and Winry fron FMAB too) Anyways, hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

Close to You

"Class, " the teacher said while entering the room catching everyone's attention. "Today we have a new student transferring from Tokyo."

Everyone started to look at eachother. They did not get transfer student that often, specially from Tokyo. The teacher waited for the class to calm down before telling the girl waiting outside to come in.

"This is Inoue Orihime and from now on she will be your classmate so I hope you treat her with respect."

"So nice meeting you all. Hope we can be friends" she said while bowing down.

"There's an empty seat behind Arisawa" he pointed at the blackhead and she proceeded to take her place.

Class when on like any other day until lunch time. Orihime was a bit nervous. Back in Tokyo she did not have any friends due to the color of her hair so she was a afraid the same thing would happen here an Karakura. Specially since it was a smaller town.

"So you come from Tokyo, huh?" said the girl in front of her. "Name is Arisawa Tatsuki by the way."

"Nice meeting you Arisawa-san" she gave her a smile.

"Please call me Tatsuki, makes me feel old" she scratched her neck.

"So tell us," said another girl that just joined them. "How is it to live in Tokyo?"

"It's really stressful, lots of people all the time. But it quite nice too"

"So why did you come?"

"It's none of your business Chizuru" Tatsuki pushed her away when she saw how close she was getting to the Orihime. The last thing she wanted was to scared the poor girl. "Just ignore her Orihime, she's really weird" she gave the girl with glasses another warning look and return her gaze to the new girl. However, when she turn she was hit with surprise to see the tears and blush forming in her face.

"Nobody ever called me Orihime" she cried while hugging her. Tatsuki was taken aback with her sudden action but padded her in the back.

"Why is that?" Chizuru asked.

"I-I didn't really have friends in Tokyo" she cleaned her tears and stopped crushing the black headed girl a little ashamed for her impulsive behaviour. "I guess is because of the color of my hair."

"You don't have to worry about that here, we have our own orange headed here" Tatsuki looked behind the girl and called. "Oi, Ichigo!"

Orihime turn to see who she was talking to and in that moment she felt like everything went in slow motion. There, at the end of the classroom was the most beautiful human being Orihime had ever seen in her short seventeen years of life. She could of swear she saw birds flying around that boy. He had the prettiest orange in his hair. The chocolate in his eyes made her heart skip a bit and that frown in his face made her blush. The boy didn't even seem to notice how much she was staring at him and apparently he also did not notice those birds.

"You see Orihime" the voice of the girl brought her back to reality. "You don't have to worry about the color of your hair here."

And from that day on Orihime did not worry about her hair because she was to occupied thinking about the color of that boys hair.

Weeks passed and she could not stop thinking about him. With the pass of time she found out his name was Kurosaki Ichigo, his dad was a doctor, and he had twin sisters. He also talked to her once. Well, he did not actually talked to her, he just said hi on his way to talk to Tatsuki. Orihime was to shy to stick a conversation with him and she didn't want to ask Tatsuki to do it for her either. For now she was content with just occasionally staring in his direction.

They meet occasionally. During class, on the hallway, at PE, sometimes when Tatsuki and all of them walked home together but Orihime swore she saw the stars fall everytime that happened. She could hear music play in the background whenever he walked by. Her heart always beating faster and a blush forming in her face in all of those occasions.

With the pass of the months their encontours starting to grow. She was now part of their group of friends and that gave her more time with the orange headed boy. Soon she found out that not only was he beautiful to look at but he was also a very nice person, even though he was always frowning. But she didn't mind, in fact she liked that frown. It made him look even cuter. She caught herself laughing at that thought when they were having lunch.

"I remembered a funny joke in last nights show, I finally got it "she excused herself not wanting her friends to find out the true reason of her laughter.

Orihime really started to believe the boy wasn't real. She would imagine angels and gods getting together and creating him. The sprinkled moondust in his hair, giving him the light of stars in his eyes, and a permanent scowl.

"You wanna go eat ice-cream at the new shop today Orihime?" her friend asked.

"That would be amazing Tatsuki-chan, I've been dying to try that red-bean-paste flavour" she said with excitement. Boy did she loved red-bean-paste.

"Lets go after school then. It would be just the two of us, Ichigo and the rest have things to do today."

The ice-cream shop was modeled like a french cafe. It was really cute and they had the biggest flavour selection Orihime had ever seen, not even in Tokyo. Both of the girls sat on the outside of the store enjoying their desert on that hot afternoon.

From far away she saw his hair. It was impossible to miss. Her heart started beating just like every time she saw him but her happiness was cut short when she saw him being followed by a short black headed girl, her other friend Rukia. It shouldn't have been a surprise for her. He was always being followed by girls. Rukia, the girls in their class, even Tatsuki. It caused her a bit of jealousy. They could be and talk to him the way she couldn't. Even so she could not bring herself to hate any of them. All of them were her friends. It wasn't their fault, maybe just like her they also longed to be close to him.

Summer vacation hit before they even realise. Tatsuki had a tournaments out of the city for most of the summer so Orihime ended up spending it alone. She was really good friends with Rukia and Chizuru but both of them also left town for the holiday. So naturally she end up doing stuff by herself like that afternoon. There was a festival at the temple and she really wanted to eat some dangos.

She wore a beautiful pink yukata her brother had brought from Kyoto on his last business trip there. The streets were full of beautiful lights and food stands everywhere. Orihime felt like she was in heaven buying all sorts of foods.

"Inoue?" she knew that voice. She fantasized about it every day.

"Kurosaki-kun, what a surprise. You came to get some takoyaki?" it took everything in her to ignore the music and the birds.

"I came with my sisters," he said with a frown. Orihime smiled. Even though it look like he wasn't enjoying it his voice dare to defer. "You came alone?"

"Yes. My brother is out of town and Tatsuki is still in her tournament" she scratched her neck a bit nervous. It wasn't like she hadn't have a conversation with the boy before, she knew him for a few months now but today she was alone.

"Ichi-nii," a brunette girl came calling to the boy. "Look what I got!" she showed him the goldfish in a plastic bag.

"Don't go lying Yuzu," a black headed girl came behind them. "I'm the one who got it."

"Oi Karin, how mean!" the girl popped her cheeks making her look cute.

Orihime felt awkward being in the middle of their family conversation. It made her miss her brother, wondering if she would be the same with him if he didn't spent so much time working. Sadness started to take over her awkwardness and the orange headed boy seem to notice.

"Hey Yuzu and Karin, this is my classmate Inoue," both girl finally seem to notice the presence of the girl. "This are my sisters."

"So nice meeting you," Orihime smiled at them.

"Ichigo didn't say he had such beautiful classmates," the brunette girl said with a smile in her face. Both Ichigo and Orihime blushed with her comment.

"I-it's because i never tell you anything about my classmates!" Ichigo tried to hide his embarrassment.

"Anyways," she ignored her brother. "I'm Yuzu and this is my sister Karin."

"Pleasure to meet you Inoue," Karin said.

"You guys can call me Orihime," she smiled.

"You also have a pretty name!" Yuzu screamed while looking at her lovely. "Invite her to spend the festival with us Ichi-nii!" both teenagers blushed again.

"I-I don't know if she would want to spend it with us," he said looking at her sister but her pleading eyes made him look at the girl. "D-do you want to spend the festival with us?" he started to scratch his neck just like he always did when he was nervous. "I-I mean you don't have too if you don't want too…"

"I would love too," she said with a light blush on her checks.

The four of them walked through the festival enjoying it. Orihime could not be any happier. Not only was she walking side-by-side with Kurosaki-kun but she also really enjoyed his sisters. They had decided to stay until the firework show at night because the girls wanted to see it. Orihime, on the other hand, felt like she was having her own personal fireworks inside of her every time Ichigo would walk close to her. She could see the birds every time he talked to her and felt her heart stopped every occasion they arms would accidentally touch.

"Let's go by the riverside! The view will be better over there," said Yuzu while grabbing Karin's hand and running to the river.

"Hey! Don't run!" Ichigo scratched his cheek. "Hope you don't mind Inoue."

"Absolutely not! I bet the view will be amazing," she said while clapping her hands together with excitement and Ichigo just chuckled.

Hearing him chuckle made her blush. She never heard him laugh or even saw him smile once, so for her to see him doing it because of her caused her heart to swell. She really did not think she could like the boy more until that moment.

They walked quietly. The fireworks started right when they got to the riverside. They could see Yuzu and Karin already sitting in between a few couples and families. The brunette waved at them and the returned her attention to the fireworks. Indeed they were pretty. The clear night sky was cover by all sorts of colors, from red to blue.

"It's beautiful," Orihime whispered while looking at the sky.

"Yes it is," Orihime turn to look at him and catched him already looking at her which cause another blush on the two of them.

The fireworks ended and everybody started to head home. Orihime felt sad. That had been one of the best days in her life and she did not wanted to end.

"Are you walking Orihime home Ichi-nii?" this time it was Karing who talked.

"Oh no, no, no," Orihime said while moving her hands nervously. She couldn't ask for anymore. "You guys go on back home. Don't worry about me, I'm stronger than I look." she went on ahead and flexed one of her arms show off how "strong" she was. Yuzu laughed seeing how funny and cute the auburn girl was.

"Don't worry about us Orihime, our dad is coming. He wanted some takoyaki so we can go with him. Go on Ichi-nii," Yuzu pushed him towards the girl. "Take her home. It's not safe for a beautiful girl like Orihime to walk alone at night."

So here they were, walking to Orihime's house side-by-side. Both of their faces tinted pink, none saying anything. Orihime was afraid that if she spoke her heart would come out of her mouth with how hard it was beating. Kurosaki-kun was walking her home. Not only that, she also spent the whole evening with him. Now it was the birds and starts that longed to be close to the boy not her and for that she could die happily.

"Thanks for bringing me home Kurosaki-kun," she said once they got to her house. Pink still present in her face.

"Glad you join us tonight," once again he scratched his cheek.

"I had lots of fun! Thank your sister for me, please?" the boy nodded.

"I-I'm gonna go now."

"Get home safe Kurosaki-kun," he smiled at her and nodded then he walked away.

Orihime stood at the door until she could no longer see him. And during the rest of the summer she couldn't think of another thing that wasn't his smile.

School started and with thet the routine, the only difference now was that the orange headed boy would talk to her more often, even when she was alone. He even offered to walk her home on multiple occasions, which she delatly accepted. Orihime was really found of this new interactions but in the back of her head she occasionally got jealous of the bigger amount of time the boy spent with Rukia.

"Are Kuchiki-san and Kurosaki-kun dating?" she asked her friend one day while shopping at the mall.

"Huh?" the question came out of the blue but then she saw them far away. "No. Rukia is dating this boy from another school, think his name is Renji, something like that," she saw the disappear when they walked in another direccion. "Apparently Rukia's brother is really picky when it comes to who she dates so Ichigo helps her sneak around since the three of them are really good friends from back in the day," she turn to look at her friend. "Why do you ask?"

"I was just wondering," she did her best to hide her excitement but could not hid her blush. "They are together all the time, that's why I wondered."

"It seem to me that he spends more time with than with her," she said while arching an eyebrow.

"Oh Tatsuki! This crepe is delicious! We have to get more!"

Weeks passed by and Orihime could not hide how happy she was. Everytime she was with Kurosaki-kun she would take more pleasure in his presence now that she knew he wasn't seeing Kuchiki-san. The walks home also increase make it an almost everyday thing. Tatsuki didn't even have to worry about getting out of training in time to walk her anymore. Their friends had notice the awful amount of time the two of them were spending together but they didn't make a comment about it know how shy both of the orange heads were.

"I really wanted you to come with me to the aquarium! It's not going to be fun just by myself," she puff her cheek and crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry Hime but my coach called at last time, I promise I'll go with you." she felt bad for leaving her friend alone but suddenly an idea hit her mind. "Hey Ichigo, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Nothing, why?" he walked toward her girls with this frown on.

"Can you take Orihime to the aquarium?" the auburn girl went totally red. "I have last minute training so I can go, I'll even give you my ticket so you don't have to buy one."

"T-Tatsuki-chan," the girl tried to stop her friend but she seem to ignore her.

"So what do you say? I'll hate to ask Keigo," she knew Ichigo will agree without hesitation if she mentioned their friend.

"I'll do it," jackpot.

"Y-you don't have to if you don't want to Kurosaki-kun," Orihime played with her fingers.

"Of course he wants to Orihime, huh Ichigo?" she hugged both of her friends one on each side.

"It's no problem Inoue."

"So it a date then!" both of her friends blushed. "Meet tomorrow at the train station at two."

Orihime felt her heartbeat increased every time the seconds passed. She could not believe her luck. If she would to tell Orihime of the past that she was about to go on a "date" with Kurosaki-kun she would have not believed it.

"Sorry I'm late," she turned to him. "My dad keep on nagging me asking where I was going," and again he scratched his neck.

"Don't worry, I just got here."

They were quiet the whole train ride. Both too shy to say anything. They were having a date, an unofficial one but nonetheless a date. When they got to the aquarium Orihime was full of excitement. She walked from one exhibition to another getting excited every time she saw a different type of fish. Ichigo, on his side, was more excited to see her happy than to see the actual fish. After a few more exhibitions they stopped at a cafe to buy a milkshake, which Ichigo insisted in paying making Orihime's face go red. That's one a date looked like on TV.

After finishing their milkshake they heard a man on the intercall announce the beginning of the penguin show which got Orihime so excited she took Ichigo's hand without thinking so they could both get there in time. Ichigo's face went as red as Orihime's had minutes ago but he didn't complaint or tried to free his hand. In fact, he actually squeezed her hand to grab her better.

Once they got the show Orihime realized she was holding his hand so she blushed but did not let go. She loved how his big hand felt on her own. She looked at him and he was blushing just like her but he also did not let go. And for the rest of the afternoon they walked holding hands from one exhibition to another. The aquarium ended with a beautiful park outside. It had ponds with koi fish and light on the trees which made it look like it was a scene out of a fairytale.

"I had such a great time Kurosaki-kun," she looked at him, the pink still fresh on her cheeks.

Orihime never felt more in love with the boy. He looked magical underneath all of the lights. His eyes shined almost as bright as the full moon above them. His face wasn't marked by his typical frown, on it place there was a small smile accompanied by a light blush. She could feel her heartbeat in her ears and prayed that he couldn't hear it. Orihime saw his blush become brighter when he lean down close to her and for a moment she saw stars. His lips touched hers in a short sweet kiss. At that moment she didn't see fireworks, she felt them inside of her. He kept their foreheads together and both could feel how hot the other's face was due to the blush.

"Me too Orihime."

And at that moment Orihime knew that those birds that followed him around every time she saw him, would never disappear.

 **Hope you got all of the references to the song lol I feel this song is perfect for Hime, i found even myself thinking about it when i see the guy i have a crush on haha. Like I said this was my first fic in English so let me know what do you think and if i should write more in English. like i always say; complains, questions, and/or suggestions are always welcomed. I did this at 1am and I have class en 7 hrs so excuse any mistakes.**

 **Hope to see y'all soon!**


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